Dave's Place The internet home of David Hinkle, a guy who plays way too many video games

Good TV: Tosh.0

A friend of mine is a big fan of Daniel Tosh, both his stand-up and his acts as a human being. Never having seen this Mr. Tosh do anything, I was a bit wary of the proposal for an internet-themed TV show. G4 has the same thing, and we all know how amazing (note the sarcasm) that network is, so if that channel comes up with an idea, it's likely one that shouldn't be emulated, right? Boy, was I wrong ...

Tosh.0 succeeds due to a few core principles, I've found. These are:

1. Keep it light: There's no political-themed stuff, and the show stays nimble by making sure the source material is fairly broad and appeals to a "classical" sense of humor. Maybe it's just marketing to try and make the show appeal to a wider audience (probable), but I think this choice makes it very easy to watch.
2. Web redemption: This has to be one of the most clever ideas for a show I've seen in some time. Most of us aren't going to bother to track down the grape stomping lady or that Numa Numa dude to see where life has taken them, but it's great to see these people react to their internet stardom. For reference, see the Afro Ninja.
3. Kato Kaelin keyboard cat
4. Tosh's Comedy Central one-liners: If you've watched more than one episode of this, you'll notice Tosh's little jabs at the network. "We'll be back with more Chappelle Show," he says before a commercial break. Another hilarious reference is to one of my more hated Comedy Central "funny guys," Carlos Mencia. Man, I hate that guy.
5. Videos I've never seen: I've been working on the internet for years now, and it's pretty rare to have someone outside of my circle of peers (many are better at the internet-fu than I) show me something I've never seen. Tosh.0 has presented several new pieces of content, all hilarious.
6. 10 comments in 60 seconds: People love posting hilarious internet comments, and seeing this model adapted to a show format is pretty successful, I think. It's no game-changer, but it's a short bit that doesn't break the flow of the show and brings teh funnay.

So, yeah, watch the show once. It's pretty good, which is surprising considering the channel it's on. If you'll excuse me, I'll be YouTube-ing some of Tosh's stand-up.

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